Iwo Jima Photographer Dies

[cumberlandredskin]

The photographer of one the most famous picture has died,Joe Rosenthal. I am currently reading Flag of Our Fathers so this is really at my forethought. If you like reading WWII books this is a must read. Great book! It is also being made into a movie that I think, is scheduled to be released this Fall. It is being directed by Clint Eastwood. If it is done well it could be as good as Saving PrivateRyan.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Rosenthal.html?ei=5094&en=63ce4c80ae851465&hp=&ex= 1156219200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all

[Buddah]

wasn't a guy from eastern ky one of the men in this photo.. i can;t remember his name though.

[Wildcat Larry]

Here's the guy you're referring to, Devin.

Franklin Sousley

b. Sept. 19, 1925 Hilltop, KY.
d. March 21, 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.
Franklin was a red-haired, freckle-faced "Opie Taylor" raised on a tobacco farm. His favorite hobbies were hunting and dancing. Fatherless at 9, Franklin became the main man in his mother's life. Franklin enlisted at 17 and sailed for the Pacific on his 18th Birthday. All that's left of Franklin is a few pictures (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/fspics.htm) and two letters Franklin wrote home to his mother:

------------July 1944, Letter from Training Camp:
"Mother, you said you were sick. I want you to stay in out of that field and look real pretty when I come home. You can grow a crop of tobacco every summer, but I sure as hell can't grow another mother like you."

------------Feb. 27, 1945 Letter from Iwo Jima:
"My regiment took the hill with our company on the front line. The hill was hard, and I sure never expected war to be like it was those first 4 days. Mother, you can never imagine how a battlefield looks. It sure looks horrible. Look for my picture because I helped put up the flag. Please don't worry and write."

Franklin was the last flag-raiser to die on Iwo Jima, on March 21 at the age of 19. When word reached his mother that Franklin was dead, "You could hear her screaming clear across the fields at the neighbor's farm."

Franklin is buried at Elizaville Cemetery, Kentucky.


http://www.iwojima.com/raising/57sos1.gif (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/l57sos1.gif)http://www.iwojima.com/raising/14sos2.gif (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/57sos4.gif)http://www.iwojima.com/raising/14sos4.gif (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/57sos2.gif)http://www.iwojima.com/raising/14sos1.gif (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/57sos5.gif)http://www.iwojima.com/raising/14sos3.gif (http://www.iwojima.com/raising/57sos3.gif)

[HC]

Franklin Sousley

http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingc.htm

There are 3 towns called"Hilltop" in KY. Grant co., Grayson co., and Logan co. I have no idea which one he was from. He is buried in Fleming co.

Sorry Larry, you posted while I was I was writing my post.

[sardiscat]

Three of the guys in the photo were deadthe next day. You see photos like that and your inclination is to think everything was over by the time they took photos andthe guys in the photo were among the lucky ones. Not the case, though. The photo was just one brief instant in time beforethey went back to war. The photo wasn't taken of the original flag planting. When Sarabachi was taken, one of the guysat the summitjust happened to have an American flag on him and they raised it. There was a momentus cheer from all the sailors on the ships and all the marines on the island who saw it go up. (Taking Sarabachi had been hell, and also incredibly important because it was the highest point on the island andJapanese obervers on the mountain had been directing the Japanese artillery fire with deadly effect). But the flag was small, so thecommander of theU. S. forcesent the big flag to shore tobe planted in its place. The photo was taken of the guys planting the big replacement flag.

[capitolkatnorm]

A few years ago I was speaking with a guy who was a former honor guard at the tomb of the unknowns here in DC. We got to talking and I was telling him about the book "Flags of Our Fathers". He was impressedI was so interested and a few days later he came by my office and gave me three photos. They were incribed by the mother of Louis Lowrey, and one was signed by Louis Lowrey. The incriptions were that they we one of two reprints of the original flag raising- before Joe Rosenthal got there.

The original flag was smaller than the flag in the Rosenthal picture and the ships off shore asked that a bigger flag be raised and one was sent. Lowrey went down the hill after taking his photos of the original flag raising and told the photographers coming up that it was all over. Nontheless Rosenthal went on up and captured the second flag raising with the bigger flag and it became the Pulitzer winning photo. I've seen many pictures of the event and in discussing the flag raising the book mentions the Lowrey photos but only one of them was depicted and the Marine Corps book on Iwo only has one of the pics in my possession. They are treasured.

The battle was far from over when the flag was raised and I remember that over 20,000 Japanese died there and less than 3% of the Japanese troops on the island were captured or surrendered. This was the first invasion of the Japanese homeland and many think it was the basis for Truman's decision to drop the bomb rather than to invade the Japanese mainland.